Client rescues girl from prostitution

15-year old Afreen (name changed) was rescued from becoming a prostitute, by her first client. He took pity on the girl and informed her parents in Bangalore who rushed there with Muslim activists and the police. She was rescued and brought to Bangalore on Thursday.

Afreen was working in a garment factory in Bommanahalli, where she was paid just Rs 2,000. She then went to Mandya to work as a housemaid where she was promised Rs 5,000. “There the people complained that I did not know to cook well. After 20 days they asked me to leave,” she told MiD DAY.

A month ago, Afreen came back to Bangalore and was standing at Majestic when a man called Swami approached her. “He said that he would give me a job and took me to his house. There he took me to a beauty parlour. I did not allow them to cut my hair. He beat me forcefully cut my hair and shaped my eye brows,” she said.

Swami kept Afreen locked up in the house for 20 days. Then she was taken to Dharmapuri where she was sold to a pimp called Chitra, who ran a brothel in Pondicherry. “That aunty took me to a house in Pondicherry. On Sunday (May 18) they took me before men. One person gave Rs 15,000 and came to my room,” she said.

Her first client was Hadib Ghousia. “When he came I was scared and I cried. He took pity on me and asked me my name. When he learnt that I too was a Muslim, he said that I was like his sister. He asked me if I had the address or phone number of my house. I gave my cousin’s phone number,” she said.

Hadib called Afreen’s cousin in Bangalore on Monday (May 19) and told her family of her plight. The family took the help of Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz and lodged a complaint with the Madivala police on May 19. “The same day we went with the police and KMMM volunteers to Pondicherry. There Chitra said that we had to give Rs 2 lakh to release her,” said Syed, Afreen’s cousin.

In the meanwhile, Afreen was taken to Kancheepuram. “The next day on Tuesday we went there and rescued Afreen and other girls. There were other girls from Bangalore, but they chose not to file a complaint with the police with the fear of society,” said Syed.

Afreen then came to Bangalore on Thursday with her family. “We are still investigating the case and trying to find if there is a racket of supplying girls from Bangalore to other states,” said DCP (South) Soumendu Mukherjee.